STATESVILLE, N.C. - Nine methamphetamine traffickers have been sentenced over a two-day period to prison terms ranging from one to 17.5 years, as a result of two related Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigations, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. U.S. Attorney...

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - On Nov. 30, 2015, Daniel Guy Bickley, 56, of Bristol, Va., was sentenced by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 24 months in federal prison. Bickley was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term and forfeit...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Daniel Sands was arrested and charged on Nov. 20, in a criminal complaint with engaging in conduct with the intent to retaliate against a witness who testified against his father in an official court proceeding in U.S. District Court. An initial appearance was held this afternoon before...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) Philadelphia Field Division announced today the publication of a statewide Drug Overdose Assessment for Pennsylvania. The report, entitled “Analysis of Drug-Related Overdose Deaths in Pennsylvania, 2014,” is the first comprehensive assessment of deaths caused by drugs for...

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Between Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, 2015, four more individuals involved in an extensive a-(alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone) distribution conspiracy centered in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia and western North Carolina, were sentenced to serve time in federal prison by the Honorable Pamela L. Reeves, U.S. District Court Judge. Melissa Carol...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in Charge Gary Tuggle of the Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Philadelphia Field Division announced today that Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will be the first city in the nation where the DEA will implement a new comprehensive strategy to address prescription opioid abuse, heroin use, and violent crime. A news...

STATESVILLE, N.C. - A federal jury sitting in Statesville delivered a guilty verdict against Eduardo Trejo-Munoz, a/k/a “Lalo,” 23, of Hickory, N.C., for trafficking high purity crystal methamphetamine worth over $5 million, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Following a two-day trial which...

PHILADELPHIA - Special Agent in (SAC) Gary Tuggle of the DEA Philadelphia Field Division was invited to speak with undergraduate students enrolled in a Comparative Politics course at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. These students have elected to spend their semester learning about the war on drugs and alternative approaches...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Alberto Gasca, 31, of Los Angeles, California, to serve 128 months in prison and five years of supervised release on drug trafficking charges, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Gasca pleaded guilty...

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Joshua Brandon Hinkle, 30, of Chuckey, Tenn., was sentenced on Oct. 20, 2015, by the Honorable R. Leon Jordan, U.S. District Court Judge, to serve 110 months in federal prison for his role in an extensive a-(alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone) distribution conspiracy centered in northeast Tennessee, southwest Virginia and western...